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Crepe Place replaced by sweet specialty chocolate shop

Genevieve Scarfone prepares cookies in the kitchen of her new chocolate shop and bakery, Seed Confections. Scarfone grew up in the St. Thomas area before moving away, but circumstance -- and a little good luck -- brought her back home in 2015. (Louis Pin/Times-Journal)

The beloved Crepe Place and Bakery on Ross Street is being replaced after closing its doors last December, but the new tenant will be just as sweet.

The specialty chocolate shop Sweet Confections will host a soft open this Saturday, Feb. 10, just in time for Valentine's Day. It's nearly a year to the day since owner Genevieve Scarfone started working out of her last semi-permanent location on Hiawatha Street, selling hand-crafted chocolates Saturday mornings.

It's her first crack at a permanent store front. But Scarfone -- who has experience working in tourist centres and big cities -- says she's looking forward to the new, updated business.

"The business has been very successful," Scarfone said. "That's in the one day a week I've been open . . . I get a lot of requests online, on the website."

The chocolates and cookies -- and cakes, she says, once the store front opens -- are not your average, grocery store goods. They're not at your average grocery store prices either, but are more meant as gifts or for special events like weddings.

Scarfone, a St. Thomas native, was trained in culinary school as a pastry chef. She first worked in tourism hot spots like Muskoka and Banff, alternating summer, before moving to Vancouver in 2009 for the Winter Olympics.

That's where she found work at a chocolate shop near her house. Six years later she moved home and opened her own business, selling hand-painted chocolates and cookies online and later, in markets around town.

Over the last month Scarfone has been working full-time, getting her business ready while handling the usual Valentine's Day rush. Her business peaks during holidays, but says business is good enough the rest of the year to justify the full store.

It's an upgrade in other respects, too. Scarfone has done most of her baking out of a small kitchen at her parents' home, but she'll have a full kitchen in which to work at the new Ross Street building. Guests will be able to see her preparing chocolate throughout the day when the store is open -- starting three days a week and extending hours once Scarfone is able to hire a few people to help out.

That's all after Saturday's opening.

"I'm actually terrified," she said, laughing. "I'd be crazy not to be!"